Think Again

If you’re a superannuation fund and you’re blindly targeting the 55 plus age group with talk of retirement, you might want to think again.

Why? Because while it might sound obvious, they’re not all looking for the same type of relationship.

In fact recent research by CoreData shows the product and service needs of pre- and post-retirees vary considerably depending on their preference for managing money.

You might expect post-retirees to want to sit back, relax and let someone else take care of their affairs in retirement, but in fact the research, based on a sample of 1690 respondents aged 55 and over, shows the desire to maintain an element of control when managing their finances is stronger among the post-retiree segment.

With regards to managing money and finances, which of the following best describes you?

Pre and post-retirees BY behavioural type

Pre-retirees have lower levels of understanding of superannuation and investments as well as the products and services available to them.

And before you start talking to them about Allocated Pensions, you might want to consider the fact that the average level of understanding among pre-retirees of an Allocated Pension is just 4.8 out of 10.

It’s hard to flog a product that is not understood.

The leakage to SMSFs is evident, with one in four post-retirees having an SMSF (25.2%) compared to only 15.0% of pre-retirees.

‘Controllers’ – those who are interested in managing their money and like doing it themselves, are the most likely to set up an SMSF, so it’s worth finding out how many of your members possess these characteristics.

There’s a large appetite for information about the products and services available in retirement and ‘coach seekers’ – those who seek help in managing their money – are the behavioural type most likely to want to know more.

Pre-retirees are hungrier than post-retirees for information and are more likely to feel overwhelmed by retirement, suggesting the need for super funds to focus education on this market.

Member communication is a critical part of the engagement process, but if you’re having the same conversation with all your 55 plus members, you could be doing more harm than good.